Almost two hundred high school students rallied in the freezing cold at the Pentacrest on Thursday after walking out of school to show their support for abortion rights. The walkout was organized by City High students, but also attracted students from the city’s other high schools, as well as Southeast Junior High. They were joined […]
Pentacrest
Posted inCommunity/News
Rally against voter suppression Saturday will gather activists, elected officials and candidates on the Pentacrest
There will be a rally on the Pentacrest in Iowa City on Saturday protesting attempts at voter suppression that proliferated in the wake of the 2020 election, as well as constant lies about voter fraud spread by Donald Trump. “Between January 1 and July 14, 2021, at least 18 states enacted 30 laws that restrict […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘A part of me is gone’: Family and friends mourn Makeda Scott during memorial service on the Pentacrest
Speeches and music filled the air in around the Pentacrest on Friday night, as more than 100 people gathered to mourn Makeda Scott. Organized by Scott’s mother, Simmone Spencer-VanGorp, and the Iowa Freedom Riders (IFR), the memorial aimed to celebrate Scott’s life, and reinforce calls for justice. “I’m mad at her for leaving me, and […]
Posted inCOVID-19
‘When is enough enough?’ Hundreds gather in Iowa City to remember George Floyd and other victims of racism and police violence
It was obvious before you reached the Pentacrest on Saturday that the protest rally scheduled for noon was going to be different. Clinton Street was blocked off from Washington to Jefferson, and a traffic barrier at Dubuque Street kept cars off Iowa Avenue. The streets weren’t blocked for a march, but to allow the hundreds […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Holiday Tubas, a 46-year local tradition, will perform on the Pentacrest Friday afternoon
In most places around the country, sleigh bells and carolers (who may or may not be “a-wassailing“) are the sounds of the season, but in Iowa City, there are also tubas. Since 1973, tuba, sousaphone (the wrap-around tuba for marching) and euphonium (think tuba, but smaller) players have gathered on the Pentacrest for Holiday Tubas. The
Posted inCommunity/News
The Pentacrest has a new larch
A new European larch was planted on the University of Iowa Pentacrest Thursday morning to take the place of the larch that was felled by strong winds during a storm in the early morning hours of Sept. 10. That tree was approximately 70 years old, and beloved by generations of UI students and other visitors to the Pentacrest. Appropriately enough
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Larix decidua, in memoriam
In the early morning hours of Sept. 10, 2019, the world lost a treasured, tired friend. The European larch tree, of Iowa City, was uprooted in a storm that claimed two other campus trees. She didn’t so much die as she was ripped from the earth that fed her. Nothing can survive absent nourishment. The moon that night was waxing gibbous;
Posted inCommunity/News
Pentacrest rally announced in solidarity with Charlottesville anti-racist activists, POC
A rally will be held this evening on the University of Iowa Pentacrest in solidarity with the anti-racist activists and people of color in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is set to begin at 5 p.m. Charlottesville was the site of escalating unrest last night and into today. A white supremacist group called Unite the Right organized […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Black lives focus of UI Pentacrest protest against police brutality
Set against the background of recent violent police scenarios across the nation, protestors — of various races and ethnicities — united forces in a peaceful protest against police brutality Thursday evening. Over 100 people claimed a spot on the University of Iowa Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City to show solidarity for the Black lives injured […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Flash wedding on Pentacrest another bright spot during fireworks show
As fireworks lit the sky over the Pentacrest, Matt “Red” Rebelskey and Emily Sohn were married under the red and white glow of the July 3 display. The couple organized what people called a flash wedding. About 15 minutes before the fireworks display began, the couple — along with a few dozen friends and […]
